658 CULTIVATION OF THE ORCHARD AND GARDEN. 



far more desirable that the soil where the trees are set out should be 

 prepared and made fertile enough in the first instance, and after- 

 ward that the fruit grower should take measures to enrich it to a 

 moderate extent, and so far as may seem necessary, during the suc- 

 ceeding years. However, the fruit grower must see to it that the 

 soil upon which he desires to grow his orchard shall be rendered 

 fertile, if it is not sufficiently of that character when he selects it: 

 otherwise the orchard will never render him the profit at which he 

 should aim. 



Selection of the Young Trees Orchard trees which are 

 to be developed upon a farm should be small at the time they are 

 transplanted, and their purchase should be made from dealers w r ho 

 have reliability, and upon whose judgment the fruit grower can 

 implicitly rely. It is desirable that they should be planted in the 

 ground in which they are intended to grow as soon after their 

 arrival at their destination as possible. If, however, it is not con- 

 venient to plant them immediately, they can be taken care of for 

 some short time (which, however, should never exceed a few days), by 

 placing their roots in a ditch, and covering them with earth while 

 they are awaiting setting out. The tops must never remain unpro- 

 tected from the sun, and there should be no delay, except what is 

 absolutely unavoidable, in placing them in the ground, so that their 

 natural growth may not be retarded more than can be avoided. 



How to Set Out the Young Trees This is a simple 

 process, but it needs to be performed with great care. The roots of 

 the young trees which have become dislocated or broken, or injured 

 in any wise in their transportation, should be properly trimmed, 

 and not less than one-half of the branches grown during the season 

 previous to that in which they are received should be taken away. 

 It is necessary to emphasize this suggestion, because in disturbing 

 the tree necessarily a large proportion of the actual root has been 

 removed, and the equilibrium, which nature originally established 

 between the top of the tree and its roots, has been disturbed. A 

 hole, broad but not of excessive depth, should be dug for the recep- 

 tion of the young tree, and before it shall be placed 1 herein, the 

 roots of the tree should be covered entirely with a coating of mud ; 

 but there should be pains taken to see that this mud is not thick 

 and heavy; it should be thin rather, and from the soil in which the 

 tree is to be placed. One point in this connection w r e would call 

 attention to particularly, and that is that the earth should not be re- 

 placed in the ground at any greater depth than that at which it was 

 placed in the land where it grew; or, in other words, regard must be 

 had to the natural formation of the soil. 



How to Support Young Trees In setting out trees 

 in transplanting for the purpose of establishing an orchard, there 

 should always be driven down in the ground beside them, if they 

 are of large size, a strong post or stake. This provision for their 

 protection should be made before the hole in which they are set is 



